The Community is the Medicine

PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY WELLNESS WORKSHOP

Culture is the key.

The Indigenous community is often understood to be in a mental health crisis.  This workshop will redefine issues, such as suicide, violence and addiction as a community crisis with a social cause and cultural “cure,” one rooted in Traditional values.  Participants will have the opportunity to identify and then explore that four-factor “cure” utilizing an Indigenous wellness model designed to assist people to become the Elders they are meant to become. A balance of values that are essential to healthy personal and professional relationships will be reviewed and relevant techniques will be practiced. Finally, a 3-part process to decolonize ourselves and our practice will be explored. The result will be a deeper understanding of the source of community problems and a culturally-rooted approach to wellness and a greater capacity to heal oneself, one’s family, and the community. The result will be a deeper understanding of the source of community problems and a culturally-rooted approach to wellness and a greater capacity to heal oneself, one’s family, and the community.

Agenda

Colonization is the Disease

– Traditional Values

– 4 Waves of Colonization

– Diagnosis and Colonization

Culture is the Cure

– The 4 Cultural Branches of Wellness

– Self Worth: Enhancing Connection & Empowerment

– A Worthwhile Life: Enhancing Purpose & Wisdom

– Balancing the Values of Care & Respect as a Helper and the Validation-Invitation 2-Step

The Community is the Medicine

– Shifting Focus from Problems to opportunities

– Shifting Focus from an Individual to a Community-Based Identity

– Shifting from Government Sanctioned Problem Resources to Community/Cultural Ones

– Making Plans for Wellness